Changeable exhibitor



March 29, 1938. c. M. DENNIS CHANGEABLE EXHIBITOR Filed Jan.

ATTORNEYS INVENTQR e/m/s Patented Mar. 29, 19.38,A

UNITEDISTATES Meer orgies..

CHANGEABLE EXHIBITOR Charles M. Dennis, Otsego, Mich.

Application January 18, 1937, Serial No. 121,140

19 claims. (ci. rio-s6) The main objects of my invention are: vmade comparatively large to permit the exhibi- First, to provide a changeable exhibitor or distion' of yrelatively large cards or display panels play device for successively presenting cards ofa which are indicated by the reference numeral 3. stack of displayv cards or panels, which cards or I employ a stack made up of a plurality of these 5 panels are provided with advertising matter, piccards 3 which normally rest on an inclined seat 5 tures, news, or other matter to be exhibited or 0l whereby the same are urged rearwardly, or

displayed. whereby they tend to slide rearwardly.

Second, to provide a device of the type described The cards are supported at the rear of the which is efficient and unfailing in action. stack by a pair of spaced inclined depending iinlo Third, to provide a device of the type described gers 5 which are adjustable forwardly and rear- 1o which is exceedingly simple in its parts and eco- Wardly to accommodate more or fewer cards in a nomical of production. v manner to be hereinafter described.

Fourth, to provide a device of the type de- I provide a pair of depending blade springs 9 scribed which is adjustable in character and cafastened at their upper ends Iii to the housing on l5 pable of accommodating display cards lor panels, either side of opening 2, these springs being com- `1,5 etc., of varying size and nature. paratively weak and exerting a slight force on the Fifth, to provide a device of the Itype described fronty card 3 tending to urge the pack of cards which is capable of presenting a card or panel of rearwardly against rear support fingers 5. Howconsiderable area in comparison to or relative ever, the strength of springs 9 is such that the U to the size of the device itself. cards may be readily withdrawn and likewise may .20

Further objects relating to details and econobe dropped at the front of the stack behind the mies of my invention will definitely appear from springs by mechanism to be hereinafter described. the description to follow. The invention is de- Each of the cards is provided with a hole II adfined in the claims. jacent the upper edge thereof for a purpose A preferred embodiment of my invention is ilwhich will likewise be hereinafter broughtout.,25 lustrated in the accompanying drawing, wherein: The front side of the hole is coveredby a suitable Fig. l is a view in perspective of a structure tab III adhesively secured to the card, or the embodying my invention. hole may be covered by other means.

Fig 2 is an enlarged view in section on a line At a suitable point interiorly of housing I, l j corresponding to line 2-2 of Fig. 1 and generally 1 provide a platform I2 having adjustably mounty30v illustrating the mechanism of my invention. ed thereon a support plate lZI which is slotted at Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary view illus- |22 to receive bolts and nuts |23 wherebythe Hating details 0f the Pickel' 01 Pickup linger v0f plate may be adjusted forwardly or rearwardly my invention, the same being shown in position on platform l2. A small motor i3 is mounted on 3,; J'US PIOI t0 engagement With a Cad t0 elevate plate lZI and has a shaft lll which drives the 35 and advance the same to display position. shaft l5 of a pulley suitably journaled on plate Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view in horizontal sec- IZI by reduction gearing consisting of a worm I6 tion on a line'corresponding to line 4-4 of Fig. on shaft Ill meshing with a worm wheel II on 5, further illustrating detalls 0f the Pickel 0f my shaft I5. Motor I3 may be connected to a source D invention. of electric current in any suitable manner. The 40 Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary view in secfingers 5 are integral at their upper ends with tion on a line corresponding to line 5-5 of Fig. 4, plate I2 I. f n still further illustrating the details of the picker The pulley shaft I5 is suitably carried `by a structure and showing the same in dotted lines in bracket I8 which is mounted on plate I2I. rThe .l5 its position after the cards have been released. `bracket extends upwardly from the plate and is 45 Referring to the drawing, the reference nupivotally and adjustably connected to the lower meral I in general indicates the casing or houspart ISI of an upwardly extending longitudinally ing enclosing the operative structure of my inadjustable pulley support by wing nut. |82 on the vention and provided with a display opening 2 pivot |83. The upper part I8!! of the pulley sup- 50 in the front wall thereof. The housing I may port is slotted at IBB to receive screws |85 and50 be formed of any suitable material; however, I wing nuts I8'I whereby the length of the pulley preferably employa sheet metal structure and cut support may be adjusted when the position of the opening at the bottom thereof. It may be shaft I5 is changed. Support part l|84 is pronoted that due to the features of construction vided at its upper end with a suitable spindle I9 55 to be hereinafter described opening 2 may be whereon a second pulley is mounted. The pul- 55 leys carried on shaft I5 and spindle I9 are numbered respectively 20 and 2|. The belt 22 is supported and driven by these pulleys. A belt of small section, so as not to impose a serious load on motor I3, is preferable. I contemplate that a chain may also be employed in place of a. belt transmission.

From the foregoing, it will appear that when it is desired'to shift fingers 5 forwardly or rearwardly to accommodate more or fewer cards 3, the motor I3, belt 22 and parts associated there with are simultaneously and similarly shifted without changing the operative relation of they parts in any way. This is accomplished by simply loosening and shifting plate 'I2I'.

A release or trip 23, the function lof which will be hereinafter more particularly pointed out, is secured to bracket I8 by-one of the screws '-I86. The trip, in the embodiment illustratedis formed of wire and is provided with an eye l24 at the lower end thereof receiving the screw. The wing nut IIl'Iy may be tightened to secure the trip in adjusted position.

In Figs- 3, 4, and 5, I illustrate the details of the picker or pickup finger which comprises an L-shaped bracket member .21 fix'edly secured to belt 22 on the outer side or surface thereof by rivet 28. The bracket 21 forms a support for a tiltable finger 29, the finger being pivotally mounted on the bracket by means of a pivot pin v3|! extending through the nger and bracket. A spring 3I encircling the pin and bearing-at its opposite ends against bracket 21 and'flnger 29, respectively, serves to maintain the same in operative position whereby the nger 29 will engage va hole II in the rearmost cardof the stack when the finger is presented to the card by "belt A22.

Spring`3| is a relatively weak one, its purpose 'being merely to return the vfinger to operative vr'or erected position, and it is sufliciently weak to 'be -overcomefby the weight of the cardf3.

In order to 'hold finger 29y rigidly'while the same "is lifting the rearmost card `3 and transporting thesame 'forwardly and upwardly during the upward travel of -nger 29,-I provide a `rbolt or detent member 32in the form of a forward- 1y curved tongue overhanging the innergend 33 of finger 29. The bolt member is pivotally mountedin a pair of downturned wings'or ears T34 integral with bracket 21 and .has integral therewith a rearwardly extending arm '35 which engages the trip member 23 as the ngerreaches the discharge position. VTorsion spring 3B surrounds `the pivot of bolt member 3.2, urging the same 'to latching engagement with the inner end 433 of finger 29 by `theengagement of the center portion 31 andV ends 38'of the spring with the '=bolt 'member and wings 34, respectively.

From 'the preceding description, it will be seen that when the finger vtravels downwardly and around the bottom of bottompulley 20, it reaches the lposition illustratediniFig. 3, with bolt mem- *ber 32 locking finger 29 1in erected position, the finger 29 passing upwardly against the rear of rearmost card '3. When it encounters opening -II therein,:the finger 29 operatively engages with htime opening Aas illustrated in Fig. 5, lifting the `rearmost fcard upwardly and transporting .the same upwardly vand 'forwardly in the manner shown in Fig. 2. Tabs `I I'I covering the holes 'II at the front thereof prevent 'the finger from lifting more than one -card ata time.

When the card reaches itsuppermostposition, -or thexposition `shown inFigs.2 and 5, -arm 35 practical engages a lug 39 offset from trip 23, with the result that arm 35 is rocked downwardly by the trip, as illustrated in dotted lines in Fig. 5. This releases the latching action of bolt member 32 and finger 29 is left unsupported except for spring 3|, which was stated to beinsufficient in strength to sustain a card 3. 'Ihe finger is accordingly rocked downwardly, or in clockwise direction as viewed in Figs. 2, 3, 4, and 5, with the result that card 3 drops oif the forward end of the finger into position in front ofthe pack of cards 3 and past the blade spring retaining mem- In this manner, any number of cards may be successively exhibited at opening 2, in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, the number of fingers 29 being as desired. It will, of course, be clear that sadjustments for the position of iin- `gers .5 with corresponding adjustments of the motor and belt and alteration of the position of release trip'23 maybe made/as desired 'to accommodate varying numbers of cards.

For .the purpose of illuminating cards which .are displayed, I provide electric lampl at a suitable .point Within the casing. Due to the action ofthe pickup ngerin elevating, advancing, and dropping successive cards 3, it will `beffound that an unusual lighting effect characterizes the dev-ice of :my invention. so' proportioned as to tilt the whole pack of 'cards 3 forwardly during the time that the fingers are in engagement with :the cards andjwhile they are passing into opening-II. This will result in a sealing or partial sealing of the opening 2, cutting vofi light from .the exposed face ofthe front card. As soon as the rearmost card has been removed, however, and elevated, the pack kof cards'3 falls backward against the rear supporting fingers.5,allowing the light from lamp 540 to illuminate the foremost of the cards for a predetermined period Ibefore being again cutoff in the .manner described. This will produce a blinking or'intermittent veffect which is certain to attract attention to the display device lvand the cards exhibited thereby.

"From the foregoing description, it will be apparent that `I have provided `a device which is simple in construction, efficient and unfailing in action, and 'which permits fthe exhibition ofcards of relatively large dimensions due to the fact that nothing'other than `the engagement vof the lpickup linger inhole II is employed Vfor elevating and dropping the cards. My invention eliminates .the -need for picker frames and other cumbersome details characterizing devices which are known in the art. l

`I have illustrated and described my improvements in an embodiment which I consider very I have not attempted to illustrate or describe other embodiments or adaptations as it is believed this disclosure will enable those skilled inthe art to embody or adapt myim- `provements as may be desired.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as'new and 'desire to secure by Letters IPatent is:

l. In adisplay device, a'housing having a display opening inthe face thereof, means 'for supportingavertical stack of ydisplay cardsin said ,housing 'behind said opening, each of said cards being provided with a hole, `means for removing cards successively from therear of said stack and depositing the same at the front of 'the stack adjacent the opening, comprising flexible drive means, means including reduction gearing for driving said flexible means, and a pickup device on said flexible means adapted to engage in said holes to elevate said cards successively, said pickup device comprising a bracket fixed to the iiexible means, a iinger pivoted on said bracket, a spring urging said iinger into operative position to pass into the hole in a card upon movement of the belt, a finger latching member pivoted on said bracket, a spring normally urging said latching member to engage and hold said iinger in erected position, and means to releasesaid card from said finger when the card has been elevated and advanced by the finger, comprising a release arm on the latch member and a trip in the path of movement of said arm and adapted to rock the arm in opposition to the spring urging the latching member and release the same, the Weight of the card overcoming the force of the spring urging the finger whereby the finger rocks downwardly.

2. In a display device, a housing having a display opening in the face thereof, means for supporting a vertical stack of display cards in said housing behind said opening, each of said cards being provided With a hole, means for removing cards successively from the rear of said stack and depositing the same at the front of the stack adjacent the opening, comprising flexible drive means, means including reduction gearing for driving said flexible means, and a pick-up device on said flexible means adapted to engage in said holes to elevate said cards successively, said pickup device comprising a bracket iixed to the flexible means, a linger pivoted on said bracket, a finger latching member, a spring normally urging said latching member to engage and hold said linger in erected position, and means to release said card from said finger when the card has been elevated and advanced by the finger, comprising a release arm on the latch member and a trip in the path of movement of said arm and adapted to rock the arm in opposition to the spring urging the latching member and release the same whereby the finger rocks downwardly. 3. In a display device, a housing having a display opening in the face thereof, means for supporting a stack of display cards in said housing behind said opening, each of said cards being provided with a hole and a front tab covering said hole, means for removing cards successively from lthe rear of said stack and depositing the same at the front of the stack next to the opening, comprising flexible drive means, means including reduction gearing for driving said flexible means, and a pickup device on said flexible means adapted to engage in said holes to elevate said cards successively, said pickup device comprising a card engaging finger, a spring urging said finger into operative position to pass into the hole in a card upon movement of the flexible means, a finger latching member, a spring normally urging said latching member to engage and hold said finger in erected position, and means to release said latching member from said finger when the card has been elevated and advanced by the finger, comprising a release arm on the latching member and a trip in the path of movement of said arm and adapted to rock the arm in opposition to the spring urging the latching member and release the same, the weight of the card overcoming the force of the spring urging the finger whereby the finger rocks down- Wardly.

4. In a display device, a housing having a display opening in the face thereof, means for supporting a stack of display cards in said housing behind said opening, means vfor removing cards successively from the rear of said stack and depositing the same at the front of the stack next to the opening, comprising an endless belt, means including reduction gearing for driving said belt, and a pickup device on said belt adapted to engage said cards successively, said pickup device comprising a card engaging linger, a spring urging said finger into operative position to engage a card upon movement of the belt, a linger latching member, a spring normally urging said latching member to engage and hold said iinger in erected position, and means to release said latching member from said finger when the card has been elevated and advanced by the finger, comprising a release arm on the latching member and a trip in the path of movement of said arm and adapted to rock the arm in opposition to the spring urging the latching member and release the same, the weight of the card overcoming the force of the spring urging the linger whereby the finger rocks downwardly.'

5. In a display device, a housing having a display opening in the face thereof, means for supporting a stack of display cards in said housing behind said opening, means for removing cards successively from the rear of said stack and depositing the same at the front of the stack next to the opening, comprising an endless belt, means including reduction gearing for driving said belt, and a pickup device on said belt adapted to engage said cards successively, said pickup device comprising a card engaging finger, a spring urging said finger into operative position to er1- gage a card upon movement of the belt, a finger latching member, a spring normally urging said latching member to engage and hold said finger in erected position, and means to release said latching member from said linger when the card has been elevated and advanced by the finger.

6. In a display device, a housing having a display opening in the face thereof, means `for supporting a vertical stack of display cards in said housing behind said opening, means for removing cards successively from the rear of said stack and depositing the same at the front of the stack adjacent the opening, comprising an endless belt, means for driving said belt, and a pickup device on said belt adapted to engage said cards successively, said pickup device comprising a bracket fixed to the belt, a finger pivoted on said bracket, a spring urging said finger into operative position to engage a card upon movement of the belt, a finger latching member pivoted on said bracket, a spring normally urging said latching member to engage and hold said finger in erected position, and means to release said card from said iinger when the card has been elevated and advanced by the finger.

7. In a display device, a housing having a display opening in the face thereof, means for supporting a vertical stack of display cards in said housing, means for removing cards successively from said stack and depositing the same in display position adjacent the opening, comprising an endless belt, means for driving said belt, and a pickup device on said belt adapted to engage said cards successively, said pickup device comprising a bracket fixed to the belt, a linger pivoted on said bracket, a spring urging said nger into operative position to engage a card upon movement of the belt, a finger latching member pivoted on said bracket, a spring normally urging said latching member to engage and hold said finger in -erected position, and means to release said card from said nger `when the card hasbeen elevatedand advanced by the finger.

8. In a display device, a housing having a display opening in the face thereof, means for supporting a stack of display cards in said housing, means forremoving cards successively from said stack and depositing the same next to the opening, comprising a conveyor, a pickup device on saidconveyor adapted to engage said cards successively, said pickup device ycomprising a card engaging finger, a finger latching member, and means to release said latching member from said finger when the card has been elevated and advanced by the finger, comprising a release arm on the `latching member and a trip in the path of movement of said arm and adapted to rock the arm in opposition to the spring urging the latching member and, release the same, the Weight of the card overcoming the force of the spring urging `the finger whereby the finger rocks down- Wardly.

9. In a display device, an endless conveying means, means for driving the same, a rockable card Vengagingmember carried by said conveying means, means lcarried by said conveying means and movable into engagement with the member for latching'said member in operative card-engaging position, means for urging said latching means .to latching position, adjustable means for releasing said latching means to permit the discharge oa card by rocking of `said member, and spring means for returning the member to operative position after ithas been rocked to discharge the card.

10. In a display device, an endless conveying means, means for driving the same, a rockable cardengaging member carried by saidconveying means, means movable into engagement with the 'member for latching said member in operative cardengaging position, means for urging said latchingmeans to latching position, means for releasing said latching means to permit the discharge of a card by rocking of said member, and means for returning the member to operative position after it has been rocked to discharge the card.

.11. In'a display device, a housing, a stack of cards in display position in said housing, each of said l.cards having a hole therethrough and a tab covering the front side of the hole, an endless belt, means for driving the same, an engaging member adapted to engage said holes and pivota'llyzmounted on said belt to project therefrom, means for latching said member in operative card engaging position, means for releasing said latching -means to discharge a. card, and spring means lfor returning the member to operative position vafter 1t has been rocked to discharge the card,

' 12. In a display device, a housing, a stack of cards in display position in said housing, each of said cards having a hole therethrough and a tab covering'the front side of the hole, an endless belt, means for driving the same, an engaging member adaptedk to engage said holes and pivotally mounted on said belt to project therefrom,

means for latching said member in operative -card engaging position, means for releasing said latching means to discharge a card, and an adjustable support for said belt and releasing means.

13. In a display device, a housing, a stack of cards in display position in saidhousing, each of said cards having a hole therethrough and a` tab covering the front side of the hole, an endless belt, means for driving the same, an engaging member adapted to engage said holes and pivotally mounted on said belt to project therefrom, means for releasing said card engaging member to discharge a card, and an adjustable support for said belt and releasing means.

14. In a display device, a housing having a display opening therein, a support :for a stackof cards behind said opening, a conveyor having means for transposing a card from the back of said stack to the front thereof, means for driving said conveyor, and means for simultaneously and similarly adjusting said support, conveyor and drive means forwardly orrbackwardly to accommodate the size of said stack. f

l5. In a display device, a housing having a display opening therein, a support for a stack of cards adjacentsaid opening, a conveyor having means for moving a card to said opening, means for driving said conveyor, and means for simultaneously and similarly adjusting said support and conveyor.

16. In a display device, a rockable -card engaging member and means carrying said member to position tov engage and lift a display card, means to hold said member in cardv engaging and supporting position, and means operative ata predetermined time to release said holding means from said member whereby the weight of the card causes the member to rock and discharge Athe card. n

17. In a display device, a card engaging finger,'means for transporting said finger in an `endless path to successively engage and lift a plurality of cardsfsaid cards each having a finger receiving hole therein and a tab kclosing said hole at one side of the card whereby the extent to which the finger penetrates the card is limited, Aand means comprising a member carried by said transporting means for discharging the card from said finger.

18. In a display device, a card engaging nger,

means for transporting said nger `in an endless path to successivelyengage and lift a plurality of cards, said cards each having a iinger receiving recess closed at one side of the card whereby the extent to which the finger penetrates lthe card is limited, and means comprising a member carried by said transporting means for discharging the card from said linger. Y

19. In a display device, a card engaging nger, and means for transporting said finger in an endless path to successively engage and lift a plurality of cards, said cards each having a finger receiving hole therein and a tab closing said hole at one side of the card whereby the extent :to which the finger penetrates thecard is limited. CHARLES M. DENNIS. 

